8 best sleeping bags for camping

Get a good night’s sleep wherever you camp with a lightweight, comfortable sleeping bag

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Whether camping in your back garden or in the snow-covered wilderness, a good night’s sleep almost solely depends on the quality of your sleeping bag.

But before purchasing your portable sleeping quarters, much needs to be considered.

How are you reaching your campsite?

If hiking to your campsite, a lightweight and compressible sleeping bag that can easily fit into your rucksack of choice should come under consideration.

Alternatively, if reaching a campsite via car or public transport you can contemplate heavier and potentially cosier choices.

Which shape of sleeping bag do you want?

Next, campers must consider the shape of sleeping bag that best suits their proposed outdoor adventure.

There are three sleeping bag shapes available: mummy, rectangular and double-wide.

Mummy bags follow the contours of campers’ bodies and offer an awesome warmth to weight ratio. They can often be compressed down with greater ease than their rectangular alternative too.

Rectangular or wide bags afford greater space to campers – great for those who can’t sleep still. And finally, double-wide bags are roughly twice the size of a typical rectangular bag and can be shared by two fellow campers.

What temperatures are you likely to encounter?

Thirdly, and most importantly, campers should research the temperatures they could be up against.

Choosing a sleeping bag suitably equipped for the conditions you could encounter is night-saving and potentially lifesaving.

Confusingly for first-time buyers, the vast majority of sleeping bags hold three different temperature ratings: a comfort range – temperatures at which a camper will be comfortable; a transition range – the performance limit of your sleeping bag; and an extreme range – temperatures at which a camper can expect a strong sensation of cold.

When choosing your sleeping bag, ensure that you opt for one that will rarely, if ever, be used in temperatures below its comfort limit.

We tested the majority of our recommendations in the outdoors during a particularly fierce Scottish winter, each of them coming out on top against rain, wind and snow. Lighter-weight options were thoroughly put through their paces in bothies, cars and tents when milder conditions prevailed.

If tosses and turns punctuate your sleep, then a mobility-restricting sleeping bag will likely cause you nightmares. The Vango Nitestar Alpha 300 Quad’s emphasis on wriggle room, however, should help you get a better sleep when in the wild. Its rectangular shape allowed us ample space for our whole body, from our shoulders to our restless feet.

At 2kg, the Nitestar is by no means in the lightweight category of sleeping bag, but due to its compressible Insulite Alpha filling, we were impressed by the bag’s packed size.

Despite its bargain cost of £50, the Niteastar is also equipped with a load of extras, including auto-lock zips, an internal pocket and hanging loops for airing.

Since launching in 2014, REI’s Co-op line of affordable outdoor gear has gone down a storm with outdoors enthusiasts due to its affordability and quality. And we found that the Siesta 30 sleeping bag didn’t buck this trend of bargain quality.

The bag’s rectangular shape allowed plenty of space during our camp, while the synthetic polyester fill was capable of dealing with 0°C temperatures. Campers can also zip two Siesta sleeping bags together to make one larger shared sleeping bag or blanket, though we weren’t able to test this.

Campers who purchase the Siesta shouldn’t expect frills of any sort but, at £70, we think the REI effort offers terrific value.

Sometimes escaping a snug sleeping bag the morning after a camp can feel like you’re channelling Harry Houdini, but the Smoozip’s ergonomic s-zip design allows an effortless exit.

We found that this Jack Wolfskin effort offered comfort on a par with some hotel beds, thanks to its premium NANUK soft fleece lining and supplementary filling around areas susceptible to the cold, including the head and feet.

The bag’s chief downside, however, is its cumbersome shape, limiting it to car-camping and short hikes only.

At 860g, sleeping bags don’t come much lighter than the Montane Featherlite. We fitted this fine-looking down bag into our 25L rucksack with ease and still had space for our mini expedition’s remaining supplies. The bag itself is remarkably compact and packed away with ease.

On use, we found the girth of the bag’s outer layer surprisingly thin but loved its silk-like texture. The Featherlite was consistent with its comfort rating of 5°C, but its lack of padding became problematic on firmer ground – the extra padding around the head and the easy-to-use drawstrings were a plus, however.

The Featherlite certainly lives up to its name and would serve hikers very well during the summer months, or a backpacking trip when lightweight and fine is more desirable than clumsy and space-hogging.

Though not the lightest sleeping bag on our list, we barely felt the weight of the Salewa Fusion -2 Hybrid when hiking above the banks of Loch Rannoch. More impressive still was the 1kg bag’s ability to be compressed into a tiny tube, easily fitting into our daysack.

Despite its pin-weight status, the Fusion -2 performed admirably in the warmth department, thanks to its ingenious combination of polyester and down filling.

The thermo neck collar went down particularly well in windy conditions too, preventing any unpleasant drafts from encroaching on our body from the neck down, though we did find that this left us with little wriggle space for our shoulders.

We camped in the shadow of Beinn Teallach in the Central Highlands during sub-zero temperatures and remained warm, dry and comfortable, despite damp and windy conditions and a flimsy tent, due to the Swiss manufacturer’s robust synthetic filling.

This protection comes at a cost, however; when packed the unwieldy sack took up the vast majority of our 60L rucksack. But if one is simply camping, rather than camping and hiking, the Mammut Tyin MTI is more than up for the task, whatever the conditions.

If you’re camping in the UK, the odds are at some point you’ll encounter a spell of wet weather; the Thermarest Questar should prevent any miserable weather from dampening your spirits though.

We spent a, quite frankly, miserable night in the Scottish Highlands in this sleeping bag and, though much of our kit succumbed to the onslaught of moisture, the Questar’s hydrophobic 650-fill Nikwax Hydrophobic down kept the dreich weather at bay, maintaining its natural shape and keeping this camper dry.

We also loved the Questar’s SynergyLink connectors, which allowed us to integrate our sleeping bag with a portable mattress, allowing us to roll freely without losing touch with our padded matt.

Our ibuys experts give impartial advice on a range of products after testing them in real-world conditions. Prices are correct at the time of publishing but may vary slightly afterwards. If you would like to suggest a product to test or have a question related to ibuys, please email us on [email protected]

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